This is the story of a romance that has endured for 75 years. Beryl and Kevin Balk, 97 and 98 years old respectively, of St Andrews parish in Malabar, have just received a Papal Blessing as a capstone to their marriage.
Kevin told The Catholic Weekly that he and Beryl met in 1948 in a dance hall in Leichhardt.
“I just happened to be out there on my own, I liked dancing,” he said. “I just happened to be passing Beryl and saw her sitting there, and I asked her ‘would you like to dance?’
“After that, I came back to her for another dance and I said, ‘you’ll have to save the last dance for me’ and she did.”
Balk said after the night was over, he escorted her home, and they made plans to see each other again.
“From there, that moment we met, we were just quite at ease with each other,” he said.
Balk said he and Beryl “clicked right from the beginning” and his wife became his “very, very best friend.” They were married in 1950.
The couple was presented the blessing by Bishop Richard Umbers and St Andrew’s Church parish priest Fr John Knight.
Kevin said receiving the blessing in his home was a “wonderful surprise” and he and Beryl were thrilled by the appearance of Bishop Umbers and Fr Knight.
It’s a marvellous thing to have and as soon as we get it framed it’ll be up on the wall of our lounge room,” he told The Catholic Weekly. Their whole family was in attendance including their daughter, two sons, and their grandchildren.
He said the couple would like it if the Papal Blessing became a family heirloom as it is a “very unique” accolade.
“That’ll be something to be handed down as a memento of the event,” he said. “It’s a wonderful document to have and both of us are thrilled to have it.”
Balk credited Fr Knight with being the one to arrange the Papal Blessing, saying his family had not heard of it before.
“None of our family would have thought about writing to the Pope, he must have put a lot of effort in,” he said.
“It is a very special thing, and we were never even thinking about it until Fr John turned up with it.”
What advice do Kevin and Beryl have for married couples? Kevin said that love is the secret of their decades-long partnership.
He said Beryl was “such a wonderful person” and one of the main things he has gained from his marriage is a feeling of contentment in his life, which he said “comes from love.”
“After a lifetime together being happy together, I supposed that made towards happiness, that also made towards contentment, and I think contentment is one of the most elusive of all items,” he said.
“Whenever you find contentment, cling onto it with both hands and don’t let go.”